One Little Misfit
by Skeren Dreamera
Summary: For some reason, nobody ever sat Obito down and asked him why he was always late, just like they never asked him why he wore goggles all the time. If they had, they might have been stunned by the simplicity of his answers, and everything would have made just a little bit more sense.


The first time he'd realized that his family was filled with jerks, Obito had been eight and one of his older cousins had thought it would be funny to use the boost from their newly mastered sharingan to trap him in a genjutsu for over an hour which had made it seem like everything was a couple inches closer than it actually was. Now, usually the small Uchiha was pretty good about picking up when someone cast a genjutsu on him when it happened, but on that particular day, he'd stared just a bit too long at his cousin's eyes and the hypnotic spin had completely distracted him from what the older boy was doing.

The genjutsu had only broken when he'd missed a step on some stairs and had ended up sliding down them the rest of the way, giving him a nasty scrape in the process. His dad hadn't even asked the other boy to apologize and had instead lectured him on being more aware of his surroundings. Suffice to say, the entire experience didn't leave the sort of impression that his parent had been aiming for, and Obito had sullenly dodged lessons, showing up rather late in an effort to miss them. The point he was trying to make had been missed, and he'd expanded the new 'habit' out to include everyone who upset him in an effort for his point to be clearer.

Instead, he just realized that there were a whole lot of people in the clan that seemed determined to make his day miserable because they thought it might be simply hilarious. After all, of the Uchiha children, he was always that one that was a step behind. He learned the fireball jutsu last in his age group. He was the softest hitter in Taijutsu, and kami save him if he pointed out that he was two years younger than anyone _else_ he was practicing with. That just meant he was whining apparently.

So, he laughed it off instead. He laughed even when he felt like running away, and retreated into the new safety that avoiding everyone by being 'late' afforded him. Even he didn't know when it went from an avoidance tactic to genuinely finding other things to fill the time though, but one day, it clearly did. After all, some of the things he ended up late to as he'd gotten older, he'd _really_ wanted to be on time for.

The second time he'd realized his family was filled with jerks, he'd been nine, and someone had thrown dirt into his eyes during what was supposed to be a friendly spar. It had been a younger cousin, but one who had already activated her sharingan. Instead of apologizing when his eyes teared up after the spar's rather abrupt end note, she made an idle comment about how if he was going to cry, it shouldn't be over something like eyes that were defective anyway. She was the first one to say something like that to him, but sadly, she wasn't the last.

He'd decided, after that day, that he'd avoid getting things in his eyes any more, and had gone on a quest for goggles of any sort. Oddly, the first pair he'd managed to locate had had deeply tinted lenses, and he'd asked the shopkeeper _why_. The owner, happy that _anyone_ was showing interest, just mentioned that they'd been custom made for someone who thought they would look 'cool' and had returned them quickly under complaint that they made their sharingan work less effectively.

Obito, not one to forget details no matter what his relatives might seem to believe, easily recalled the situation that happened the year before. No further thought was required for him to be sold, and he tugged the goggles into place over his eyes, deciding to get used to the oddly colored lenses now. After all, he would need to test them out, and it would be better if he was used to the color enough that it wouldn't hurt him in a fight.

Sadly, it wasn't the color that was the problem as it turned out. No, it was the stupid, stupid lack of side vision, and it haunted him clear through to when he graduated from the Academy the next year. It made him seem clumsier than he was, and while that sometimes frustrated him to tears, that was absolutely nothing when faced with his new _teammate's_ derision over it. He didn't like him. He'd wanted to. Even _he_ could see how lonely the kid had to be, but he didn't, because he discovered something that day that came as something of a rather disheartening revelation.

Even if his clan had a higher number of jerks than most families, somehow, he had missed that the whole world was overflowing with jerks.

That just meant he wouldn't be caught without his goggles. No way was he going through _that_ again if he could avoid it.

And they were shinobi too, so he was sure they'd try it when they heard the word 'Uchiha' out in the field.

Thus, permanent goggles to go with his accidentally permanent late streak.

The one day he'd really stopped to think about it, he'd realized that it really only furthered the opinions people had about him being weird. Still, he found he didn't mind.

After all, it meant he was memorable, right?


End file.
